The Beginning, the End or the Middle

As I looked up at the stars I had a sense of freedom that I never had. I was being led to my execution by a man I had trusted with my own life, a man who I called my brother. The slow and loud snoring of the guard greets me as I get up to move my feet around. The putrid smell of the jail room, the dirty straw on the cold hard stone floor is something I had gotten used to. This small room is where I have lived for the past three months. The humiliation of being thrown a few morsels, the jeering of the guards as they ask what could I do now, the unbreakable metal bars that bind me in and keep me in this wretched  place. Tomorrow morning was to be the end of my mortal suffering and maybe fate would be as kind as to give me something better than this. As I pace up and down in this box of hell nothing comes to my mind apart from how could he have done this and what have I done to deserve what no man can bear. I still preserve a little piece of hope one that screams to me what if this wasn’t the end? What if this is just the beginning? What if this was the middle?

I was awakened from the beauty and relief of sleep. I looked towards the filthy metal door as it creaked open and two of the guards came through smiling at me as I got up. Their swords in their hands and their armor gleaming from the light of the torch, I looked up at their faces and smiled as I knew my end was near.

“It’s time your highness” one of them sang out

“I know” I muttered

They shoved me from the prison cell and dragged me up the stone staircase and into the gleaming halls. I remembered with a smile of how I used to run through these halls and used to wonder at how big and marvelous they were. The floors were gleaming and the halls were decorated with the finest banners and suits of armor. A sweet aroma came through the royal kitchens and I smiled as I remembered how as a child I would to steal muffins and pies and being pursued by the royal cook with a cooking stick in her hand and a gleaming mad look in her eyes. I looked in to the Throne room as we passed by it and I remembered how my father used to sit not caring if I were dead or alive only if his subjects were paying their taxes, a tear fell from my eye as I remembered how he would treat me and my brothers, with the utmost disgust in his voice he would tell us to go away and if we didn’t comply we would be locked away until our spirits broke. With a sudden pull they brought me back to the peril I was facing. I walked the rest of the way looking at the palace courtyard and citadel for the first time in months. Running and hiding in the citadel was one of my pass times as a child, I would run endlessly into the market to play with the kids who lived in the slums of the City of Kentor, the jewel of the great Kingdom of Raghul. It was taken from the creatures of Golin who were called Yasgool. They were creatures of Darkness that feasted on the flesh and drank the blood of Men and Sorcerers alike.

They ruled these lands for thousands of years, not even the bravest warriors dared to enter this domain of evil. Their mere appearance would shake the knees of legions of men, make even the most powerful of Wizards, Witches and Warlocks flee with the speed they could conjure. These creatures knew no mercy and would slaughter anything with the slightest hesitation. They could move faster than an average man but were weaker in strength. Their eyes gleamed in the dark, when they would shriek it would be registered with children crying and men running. Their faces looked as though they were carved from out of stone by someone who had the faintest idea of how a face looked like. Their smell could be picked up by hunting dogs miles away, they lived in underground holes and tunnels that were maze like. These became the catacombs that housed the bones of my ancestors.

But that all changed when a strange wizard arrived from the lands beyond the sea. He was described in legends as a wizard so powerful that at will he could turn mountains into dust; rivers would dry if he uttered the mere words of magic. He went to the ancient Kingdom of Osgul whose ruins now stand at the base of the White Mountains. He cured the plague created by the Lord of Golin himself; Selkor. His name when uttered would cause Kings to swoon in fear, he lived to be feared by men, he fed from their despair and sadness. He was known simply in stories of old as the Demon King. His frame as that of three men put together, his strength was that of the Giants of the mountains and at his beck and call were the Yasgool. None could match him until the wizard arrived and fought through hoards and hoards of Yasgool and fought him for many days and nights with the help of a wandering nomad called Eron. As described in legends the demon king was hit by a spell by the wizard and with strength that betrayed his frame the nomad Eron put his sword that was made by the wizard himself deep into the chest of the helpless demon king. As a reward for his bravery and courage he was given the land of Golin.

Eron was my ancestor and so I am Lorin the son of Forgin descendant of Eron, Ruler of the great kingdom of Golin. The wizard disappeared as suddenly as he came but it is said that the Demon King will rise again greater and more terrible than before to reclaim his lands and then the wizard will return, But I had no time to dwell on tales of old as the guards take me through the doors of the courtyard and dragged me through the streets with all the inhabitants looking down and grieving that I will breath my last today, I notice no wizards and warlocks were around the market. The wind blows across my face and I look at the stalls that were selling bright coloured fruits from other lands. I look up at the sky and the sun was shining, its heat stroking my neck, burning it.

Maybe I should take it as a good omen that the sun was shining but the small drop of hope that was growing had been evaporated at the sight of the dirty guillotine on top of the large brown with people gathered around to watch my passing to the grave. As I came nearer I realized that some of the gathering were friends and others foes. My enemies pelted me with rotten vegetables and some even dared to throw stones.

‘’HEY!!! Show some respect to your once King’’ one of the guards laughed out

Some in the crowd laughed at the sarcasm. I was raised to the scaffold where I accepted defeat. There was no chance that I would escape this unfair punishment a part of my tired mind said to me. I looked up and I saw my brother and at the sight of him my rage erupted inside me like a thousand year old dragon spitting flame. He was laughing, my once dear brother who I would have given everything to was now laughing at my imminent destruction. I closed my eyes as the large bulky bald executioner put my head softly into the guillotine.

‘’ I am sorry for your fate my highness, I truly am’’ he whispered

‘’It is alright’’ I whispered back my voice shaking

Suddenly noises were heard and loud war cries rang through the air. I opened my eyes and quickly got out of the guillotine as it came crashing down. I knew that this would be my chance to escape my death so I jumped of the scaffold and tackled a guard that was rushing to try and apprehend me. I knocked the fellow out and I ran to the cover of running people taking his long blunt sword with me. In the cover of scurrying people who were desperately trying to get away from the flying arrows that had caused the disruption on my would be death I slipped into the filthy alleyway of the market, its stench enough to make anyone hurl their breakfast and the walls covered with something that suspiciously looked like blood.

‘’Where do you think you’re going then? A guard asked me, his gray helmet and armor gleaming in the now forgotten sunshine.

‘’Looks like he’s trying to run for it then mate” The other one shouted out.

“I was your King once you have no right to talk to me like that” I spat out.

“But now you aren’t so that puts you in a sticky place don’t it mate” The first guard chortled out.

“I warn you of the consequences of attacking me it shall be your last doing” I warned them.

“Let’s get the idiot and be done with this” The second guard muttered.

With that they started advancing, the both of them blocking out any exit I could find. They were coming at me with their chipped swords and grinning faces. I sighed and went at them with all the strength I had and killed one. The other swung his wretched sword and cut my arm. I raised my sword and let it chop his head off, it dropped like a ball that’s been kicked by street urchins.

With a bleeding arm I proceeded through the alleyways always keeping one eye out for any guards I might stumble upon. My way through the market and to the main gate was surprisingly easy and I took it as a good omen as I stumbled through the streets with a helmet I procured from one of the two idiotic guards I had slain, they wouldn’t need it in hell. A few people looked at me suspiciously but walked away. Suddenly I saw three guards coming in my direction looking at everyone carefully as they passed with the utmost urgency. I looked around in panic to see if there was any hiding place any place that I could seek refuge in. I spotted a corner full of hay and I launched myself into it. I watched the guards go by and I came out relieved, I took of my shirt and wrapped it around the wound I had. I carefully made my way main gate only pausing to hide from the onrushing guards.

I reached the gate after an hour of dodging and running through streets but my smile quickly turned into a look of hopelessness. I now knew why the alleyways were so empty. The entire area of the main gate was littered with guards all standing rigid and still ready to intercept me if I ever tried escaping my fate. There was no way I could walk through the gate unnoticed unless I used magic. My face lightened up at the prospect of such a plan but the problem was I didn’t know any. Well there was one thing for it then and that was to fight for bloody freedom or die trying. As I tried to heave myself towards the guards someone grabbed me back into the opening of the alley.

“Are you mad? You wouldn’t last a second with them lot coming at you” he whispered

“Who are you” I asked

“I’m just a blacksmith who’s had enough of your brother’s reign here so I’ve decided to go with you were ever you’re going” He whispered out

“Can you wield a sword blacksmith? I asked

“I’ve been making em my entire life of course I bloody well know how to use a sword” He laughed out

“Names Magaby by the way” he said in a matter of fact voice

 “I’ll just call you blacksmith, easier to remember” I replied

“So, how the bloody hell are we going to escape them guards then?? He asked

“I have no clue” I answered

“What if we go through the old catacombs, bet we could escape using them tunnels!” He said with his lighted up

“We can’t, they were blocked up ages ago” I told him

“Wait, I have three bags of gunpowder in me shop what if we blow them idiots up?” He suggested with a smile

“Hmmm, I’m starting to like you blacksmith” I replied

“Il just fetch em then” He suggested

“Fine by me” I replied

With that Magaby, my newly found friend, departed to get the bags of gunpowder. He seems like a good hearted person, he was of average height and was lean. His most noticeable feature was his wild dark hair and his almost black eyes that when looked at was like a vast emptiness or the depths of a hopeless abyss. Night was creeping in and casting a shadow over the place. He had been gone for a long time I kept thinking to myself, what if he had decided to find another way out? All these thoughts kept on swirling around in my mind. I stood up as I realized someone was sneaking into the alleyway in the cover of darkness, I stood firm and held my sword high, ready to cut down anyone who tried to attack me.

“Hey, keep that sword down!!!! You nearly took my eyes out you lunatic” Magaby snarled

“Sorry I thought it was a guard” I apologized

“Forget it, I got the gunpowder so let’s blow some guards up” He laughed out

“Sounds like a plan” I said smiling feebly

Magaby lighted the gunpowder or tried to in his first couple of tries. He looked like a child with a new toy as he tried to light the bags of gunpowder. After many tries he finally lit up all of them and we throw them right to the place where the guards were standing and ran back into the concealing darkness of the alleyway. Nothing happened apart from the guards exclaiming in surprise as what they thought was someone throwing things at them.

“It came from the alleyway” One of the guards shouted

“So let’s catch the idiot that’s throwing rubbish at us then” Another exclaimed

“We need to get out of here fast” I hurriedly told Magaby

We both ran to the other side of the alleyway and joined the crowd of people walking about. Amazingly I saw that only two of the group of guards had remained to cover the front gate.

“We can take them” Magaby pointed out

“So why are we standing around talking then?” I said

With that we ran straight for the gate and took out the two guards as if they were scarecrows unable to move or talk. We both used the strength available to us to lift the gargantuan piece of wood that kept the doors of the gate shut. It seemed that only a group of men could lift such a thing but after an entire minute of lifting and keeping an eye out for any more guards we did it. We started pushing the doors open like mad men and with a final look of effort plastered on our faces we pushed those big brown doors of wood and ran straight to the warm embracing arms of freedom in the shape of a forest. We both thundered our way into the forest not knowing whether this vast clearing would before the forest would be the death of us, not caring that someone might intercept us or that someone could be waiting for us in the cover of those trees.

I heard a loud thud behind me and stared back and I saw that Magaby was tackled by some guards. I took up my sword and went straight to release him from them.

“RUN!! SAVE YOURSELF” He yelled at me

I didn’t care as I swung my sword over and over again at the guards. Their blood hit me over my face and staining the rags I had on. I lifted him up and we both continued running toward the large forest that now looked more foreboding than welcoming. As I looked back I saw the flicker of torches, their light twinkling like the stars while their carriers shouted things that were incoherent to us. Just a bit more effort I thought as I stumbled and ran. I looked beside me and noticed that Magaby was gone. I stopped running and I stared around hoping to see his lean outline but I saw nothing, it was as if the darkness had taken him or the ground had swallowed him up. I carefully doubled back hiding among the bushes and trees that grew near the forest, hoping to find Magaby before the guards did. I kicked at the large yew tree in frustration of not knowing what to do, should I leave him or should I stay and risk the moon coming out and so with it the guards. It’s his fault for getting lost I thought to myself firmly. So I ran back towards the forest with a heavy feeling inside, I ran knowing I might have left an innocent man to die, his only crime being helping me to escape.

Something hard struck the side of my head and I was instantaneously dazed, I fell to my knees and then to the soft wet grassy floor. I groggily looked up; the moon was smiling at me and the stars winking at me. Dazed and confused I noticed someone approach me, the person was walking slowly like they weren’t troubled by anything at all. A loud roar and a huge gust of wind came out of nowhere and whatever it was shook the ground as it landed. I looked to my left and with terror I see what it is, it was a dragon. It was gargantuan in size, it was pitch black like the night itself, its fangs were yellow white and its eyes were bright green. I tried to get up so as to try and run away but the strange figure ferociously kicked me down making me spit out blood and some saliva. My tall muscular frame was now useless as I lied panting on the clearing floor, the only other noise apart from my whimpering being the large black dragon growling and shuffling about. The figure grabbed at my short filthy hair and dragged me up so as to converse with me. I realized with shock that it was Magaby; I could only see the whites of his eyes as his dark pupils were hidden from me in this darkness.

“My master will rise again” He whispered into my ear.

“Why?” I implored painfully as every breath I now took gave me pain

“You will see, all of you will see” He smiled

My vision was starting to blur as he ripped my sword of my bleeding hands, he started to drag me towards the dragon. I looked up into Magaby’s face and I realized with horror that his eyes had changed. Darkness enveloped my senses and I saw no more.

Reviews

[Fantasywriter1]

Your story line is pretty awesome and your similes and metaphors are quite create and interesting. Although I feel like the beginning of your story is filled with an emotion that I couldn't understand because of the lack of background of why this ex-king is where he is. The title of the passage is great and I don't think you think you need to draw attention to it by actually literally phrasing the questions in your writing. And, especially near the end, your writing seems rushed. Your combat scenes only last a sentence or two and it takes away from the suspense you built up in your dialogue. But this was a joy to read and I will definitely be reading on.